Healing Out Loud: How Jennifer Is Reclaiming Her Mental Health Through Movement

For Jennifer Baker, running isn’t about pace, distance, or performance. It’s about something much deeper: reclaiming ownership of her mental health and creating a life rooted in purpose.

Jennifer, who will turn 41 this summer, has spent nearly two decades navigating treatment-resistant anxiety and depression. Her journey has included postpartum psychosis, major life transitions, physical health challenges, and unimaginable loss. Through it all, one truth has remained consistent: movement helps her feel better.

Today, as a participant in the Still I Run Mental Health Runner Program, Jennifer is rediscovering running as a powerful tool for healing and self-connection. And for the first time in a long time, she feels like she is showing up for herself in a way that feels sustainable.

When Mental Health Becomes the Center of Everything

Jennifer became a mother at 27 years old. Shortly after her daughter was born, she was diagnosed with postpartum psychosis, a severe mental health condition that dramatically changed the course of her life.

“It was a really ugly point,” she shared honestly.

During that time, Jennifer struggled to care for herself, let alone a newborn. Her daughter spent significant time with Jennifer’s mother while she tried to find stability. She describes that season as deeply painful and disorienting, a period when daily functioning felt overwhelming.

Over the next 17 years, Jennifer tried nearly every major antidepressant available. She was prescribed high doses of medications, including Wellbutrin, which eventually stopped working after long-term use. Despite consistently seeking help, she continued to struggle with persistent anxiety and depression that did not respond easily to traditional treatment approaches.

Through lived experience, Jennifer began to notice something important: movement consistently improved how she felt.

“Exercise is singlehandedly the most effective but underutilized antidepressant on the market,” she said.

While medication played a role in her care, she found that physical activity often had the most immediate impact on her mood, energy, and ability to cope.

Searching for Stability

Jennifer’s path toward healing was not linear. She navigated an unhealthy and mutually abusive marriage that eventually ended in divorce. At one point, she found herself essentially living out of her car, relying on a Planet Fitness membership as a place where she could shower, regroup, and move her body.

Those experiences forced her to rebuild her life piece by piece.

During this time, she also began exploring the role of cannabis in managing her symptoms. Before cannabis was legal in Michigan, Jennifer quietly began using it as part of her personal mental health care. Later, she pursued formal education and earned a degree in cannabis chemistry.

Today, she is a passionate advocate for responsible medicinal cannabis use and harm reduction. After losing both of her brothers to fentanyl overdoses, her advocacy became even more personal.

“Harm reduction saves lives,” she says.

Jennifer now volunteers her time supporting the recovery community and educating others about safe, informed approaches to cannabis use.

Her story reflects the reality that mental health journeys are rarely simple. They often involve experimentation, persistence, setbacks, and resilience.

A Major Physical Setback

At age 38, Jennifer was diagnosed with hip dysplasia, a condition that required major hip reconstruction surgery in September of last year.

Recovery meant slowing down in ways she hadn’t experienced before. For someone who had long relied on movement as a coping tool, being physically limited presented a new kind of challenge.

She had not moved her body consistently for nearly two and a half years.

While recovering, Jennifer spent time online searching for ways to reconnect with her health in a gentle, supportive way. That’s when she came across a post about the Still I Run Mental Health Runner Program.

Something about the message resonated.

The program’s focus on mental wellbeing, self-compassion, and community support felt different from traditional fitness programs. It felt approachable. Possible.

She decided to apply.

Starting Again, One Step at a Time

Jennifer attended orientation unsure of what to expect. After years away from consistent movement, returning to running felt intimidating.

But the Mental Health Runner Program provided something she hadn’t experienced before: structure without pressure.

The program’s emphasis on progress over perfection helped Jennifer rebuild trust with her body at her own pace. Instead of focusing on performance, she began focusing on consistency and self-connection.

“It’s something that is ONLY for me,” she shared. “I’m not sweating for anybody but me.”

That mindset shift has been transformative.

Jennifer had experience with running earlier in life. She ran cross country and track in middle school and high school, but without strong support from those around her, running never fully developed into something she viewed as her own.

As an adult, she occasionally participated in 5Ks with family members, often without formal training.

This time feels different.

Through the Mental Health Runner Program, she is rediscovering movement not as obligation, but as personal care.

The Power of Community Support

While the physical component of the program has been meaningful, Jennifer says the group support aspect has been equally impactful.

Opening up in a group setting can feel vulnerable, especially when discussing mental health experiences that carry stigma or shame. Still, Jennifer has found that sharing her story has helped her feel less alone.

“It’s a little nerve wracking to put yourself out there,” she said. “But even though it isn’t easy, it’s life changing.”

One quote in particular has stayed with her:

“Shame dies when stories are told in safe places.”

That message encouraged Jennifer to begin sharing her experiences more openly, with the hope that her story might help someone else feel understood.

The sense of connection she has found through the program reminds her that healing does not have to happen in isolation.

Navigating a New Season of Life

Jennifer is currently navigating perimenopause, another life transition that can impact both physical and mental health. She acknowledges that running feels different now than it did in earlier seasons of life.

But instead of focusing on what has changed, she is focusing on what remains possible.

The Mental Health Runner Program has given her a framework for continuing to show up for herself, even when circumstances shift.

Rather than chasing a specific pace or outcome, she is building a sustainable relationship with movement that supports her overall wellbeing.

That perspective aligns closely with Still I Run’s belief that progress looks different for everyone, and that forward is always a pace.

Finding Purpose Through Personal Healing

Jennifer describes the Mental Health Runner Program as life-changing.

After years of feeling like her mental health defined her limitations, she now feels a renewed sense of direction.

She is continuing her advocacy work, supporting harm reduction efforts, and educating others through cannabis science. She is also continuing to rebuild her relationship with movement in a way that feels empowering rather than overwhelming.

Most importantly, she is learning to prioritize herself without guilt.

Looking ahead, Jennifer is focused on becoming the healthiest version of herself possible and using her story to create positive change.

She hopes that by speaking openly about her experiences, others will feel encouraged to seek support and explore tools that help them feel better.

Because healing does not always happen quietly.

Sometimes, healing happens when stories are shared, when community shows up, and when one person’s willingness to speak honestly helps someone else feel less alone.

Jennifer is choosing to heal out loud.

And in doing so, she is helping create space for others to do the same.

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If Jennifer’s story resonates with you, you can learn more about the Mental Health Runner Program and apply here: https://www.stillirun.org/programs/mental-health-runner